


a promise broken by circumstance

by Anonymous



Category: ENHYPEN (Band), I-LAND (Korea TV)
Genre: Gen, M/M, and for those of us who are heartbroken at jay and k's separation, i don't intend to turn k's loss into a shipping moment, i just want to give a little comfort to those of us who were hoping so hard for his debut, this can be interpreted as platonic or romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:02:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26541859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: “Shh, it’s okay, Jay.” Kei leans down, pressing the wetness of his cheek against Jay’s jaw. “See?” He whispers against Jay's ear. “I told you you’d be fine.”| the conversation Jay and K share in the aftermath.
Relationships: Park Jongseong | Jay & Kei | K, Park Jongseong | Jay/Kei | K
Comments: 11
Kudos: 89





	a promise broken by circumstance

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! God, if you are anything like me, you were still blindsided by the loss of two members and are still mourning K and Daniel's absence. They both have amazing potential as soloists or for future debut lineups. Let's keep supporting them as best we can. Enhypies for Daniel and K! In the meantime, I hope this soothes your heart a little. I broke when I saw Ni-ki sobbing, and also in the moment I remembered what Jay and K had promised.

After the cameras stop rolling, the air of chaotic excitement turns to a collective sigh of relief--the special kind of contentedness all 22 of the applicants are feeling with this chapter finished and a new one beginning. It's surreal when staff brief the new ENHYPEN members on what comes next. It's even more surreal when Producer Bang strolls to the trainee’s section and pulls aside some of the boys for private chats. 

Jay should feel elated right now. He even gets a few pats on the back from some of the BTS sunbaenims and TXT hyungs! He knows he should be filled with pure gratitude, but the tears that start welling in his eyes are bittersweet. 

After half-listening to the staff instructions, the applicants are excused to go strip off their I-LAND gear and change into less crunchy civilian clothes. They all crowd the hallway and spill into changing rooms, eager to roll their shoulders back and start winding down for the night.

Jay stares blankly at the wall as he shucks on jeans in the corner of the dressing room, unfortunately realizing too late that he’s put them on backwards.

His heart aches for the friends he’s leaving behind. Especially those who were _so_ close, who got to glimpse the gold shining through the cracks. Daniel, and Geonu, and Ta-Ki, and _Kei_. He can’t forget that they had shared their hearts and souls. He can't forget what they pleaded in desperate moments. He won't forget what he and Kei promised.

In the time it takes Jay to put on his pants the right way around, the other trainees finish getting dressed and excitedly rush off to the big staff room where special treats await them. Ta-Ki and Sunoo yell over their shoulders, promising to wait for Jay before they start snacking. He chuckles and waves them off.

With the sudden silence falling over the room, Jay hears Jungkook sunbaenim down the hall. Jay’s eyes almost bulge out of his skull when he cranes his neck and sees the senior walking alongside, talking to, and _oh my god touching the shoulder!!!!_ of someone who looks like another I-LANDER. 

Jungkook sunbaenim clasps hands with Jay’s peer, then loudly encourages, “KEI, HWAITING! DEBUT SOON!” (Much to the chagrin of Namjoon sunbaenim, who hurries over quickly and lightly chastises his bandmate for startling the passing trainees.)

Jay swallows hard and quickly yanks his pant legs over his thighs. He wants to have a heartfelt conversation with his hyung and attempting that with his jeans pooled around his knees would do _nothing_ to save his already ruined image.

As Jay finally zips up-- _success! Thank you, God for smiling upon me today_ \--Kei ducks in through the door frame. The boy's eyes are ringed with swollen skin already.

Kei stares at the ground. Jay stares at him.

Neither is sure who goes to the other first. All they know is that they end up body slamming each other in a much-needed hug.

Jay sobs, even the warmth of Kei’s body folded around him doing nothing to settle the rolling tides of emotion.

“Don’t cry, Jay-yah,” Kei hushes, but he can’t save either of them from the tears that beg to flow.

“Hyung,” Jay croaks. “I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry.”

“Aish, don’t say that. You made it. Congratulations.” 

“But hyung-” Jay hiccups. He’s _so_ not being cool right now. 

“Shh, it’s okay, Jay.” Kei leans down, pressing the wetness of his cheek against Jay’s jaw. “See?” he whispers against Jay's ear. “I told you, you’d be fine.” 

“But we promised we would go together. How can I go without you?”

“Hey.” Kei lightly slaps the baby fat of Jay’s cheek. “You will go and live out your dream. For you, and for me too. Okay?”

Jay squeezes his hands around Kei’s back, suddenly realizing that he doesn’t know when he will next see the older boy in the flesh.

Kei clears his throat and leans back far enough to get a good look at Jay’s downcast face. He moves his palm to cradle the back of the younger boy’s head and gently pulls his hair so that Jay will finally tilt his chin up.

Kei is met with the glassy stare of Jay's colored contacts, glimmering with the kind of dewy beauty only eyes producing heartfelt tears can hold.

“There’s my R.A.S. baby,” Kei chuckles. Because only Kei, at a time like this, can so earnestly cling to the salvation of making Jay smile. 

It works. In between wet laughs, Jay is swatting at the older boy and whining at his hyung to “Stop teasing me when my heart is broken!”

Kei takes Jay’s face in his hands, squeezing his cheeks so tight that the boy looks just a pair of beady black eyes away from becoming a blobfish. “I promise, I will not disappear on you. We will chase our dreams together.”

Between squished lips, Jay orders Kei, “You have to find your way back to us.” 

In a risky oath, the type that the two have a penchant for making, Kei nods. He drops his hands and exhales. His face is now thoroughly damp, makeup be damned.

“I promise you, Jay. We will stand on the same stage together again.” Kei’s chest fills with the wind of demigods.

He will make it; he has to make it. For the family that suffered separation to support him, for the heart inside his chest that will beat wildly every day he hasn’t made the world his, for this boy that gave him a piece of his soul.

“How do you know, hyung?” 

Kei flashes a tired smile.

“Because I won’t rest until then.”


End file.
